Revealed: The cheapest and most expensive seaside towns to buy a home

Coastal properties aren’t only found in southern England – research found where house prices are low

A cottage by the sea is a dream that has led many a city-dweller to seek a new life on the coast.

But enormous house prices put some of Britain’s most famous beach resorts – Brighton, Yarmouth, Falmouth – beyond the reach of ordinary people.

This struggle has led researchers to scour the country to find where a seaside home can be found at a more palatable price.

While southern England tends to offer the steepest listings, Britain’s cheapest coastal homes can be found in Scotland, analysis by Halifax found.

The bank looked at house price data for the 12 months to December 2022 to make the findings, looking at 209 coastal locations in total.

Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland, was found to have the lowest average house price of the seaside locations analysed, at £97,608. It was followed by several towns around the Scottish coast and parts of Northumberland.

Halifax’s study indicated that, in general, the cost of coastal homes across Britain has increased by 56 per cent between 2012 and 2022, from £195,509 to £304,460.

Many of the most expensive seaside locations were found along the coastline of southern England, in areas popular with second homeowners.

Kim Kinnaird, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “When we delve deeper into the cost of Britain’s seaside homes, it’s clear that there is a broad spectrum in house prices.

“Whilst million-pound properties are abundant in the southwest of England, in contrast, homes in Greenock in Scotland are valued on average at less than £100,000.

“Second home ownership undoubtedly plays a role in driving up prices in the most desirable locations. While house prices in any location are driven by factors such as supply and demand and interest rates, there are also socio-economic factors at play.

Cottage on the coast: Houses in Thurso were £126,716 on average (Getty/iStock)

“Some of these factors are more acute in Britain’s coastal communities, and many British towns most in need of investment also sit near the shore.”

Halifax used Land Registry data covering England and Wales, in addition to figures from the Registers of Scotland, to make the findings which account for the 12 months to December 2022.

The least expensive locations to buy a seaside home out of the 209 locations analysed, according to Halifax, were:

1. Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland, £97,608
2. Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland, £105,410
3. Millport, Ayrshire, Scotland, £111,381
4. Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland £114,962
5. Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, £116,414
6. Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, North East, £117,663
7. Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, £117,884
8. Wick, Caithness, Scotland, £124,857
9. Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, £126,716
10. Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, £129,348

The most expensive locations to buy a seaside home out of the 209 locations analysed, according to Halifax, were:

1. Salcombe, Devon, £1,244,025
2. Sandbanks, Dorset, £952,692
3. Aldeburgh, Suffolk, £794,492
4. Padstow, Cornwall, £790,847
5. Lymington, Hampshire, £663,474
6. Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, £611,816
7. Dartmouth, Devon, £567,985
8. Kingsbridge, Devon, £556,659
9. Wadebridge, Cornwall, £548,669
10. Budleigh Salterton, Devon, £537,681

Halifax also looked at where prices had risen the most and Salcombe again topped the list.

Back in 2012, the average house price in Salcombe, at £558,538, was less than half the typical 2022 value. Other locations where house prices have at least doubled over the past decade include Margate and Westgate-on-Sea in Kent.

By the end of 2022, a home in Margate cost 109 per cent more, on average, than it did in 2012, rising from £146,276 to £305,191, and the average cost of a property in Westgate-on-Sea doubled, from £154,686 to £308,764.